Lawrence Feldman, a real estate attorney and partner at Uniondale law firm Farrell Fritz, isn’t afraid of a fight. With Long Island’s history of not-in-my-backyard reactions to many proposals, he expects community resistance to large projects. But lately, Feldman is finding a shift in attitude toward projects, such as Glen Isle, a large development planned for Glen Cove by RexCorp and Glen Isle Partners.

“Rather than just throw roadblocks in our way, the community recognized that if it’s well done, there are benefits there for the community for the short term and long term,” Feldman said, “such as taxes, jobs and cleaning up of a superfund site.”

Thanks in part to a weakening economy, fights over whether to build are often replaced by negotiations on how to make projects work. Communities facing soaring property taxes are being more receptive to projects, which bring taxes and jobs. Tenants of commercial buildings help reduce property taxes, and multifamily dwellings provide affordable housing.

“Years ago, only the NIMBYs would come out and say they didn’t want this project. They didn’t ask what the project was. You’re seeing more voices saying, ‘Let’s take a look at this project and see how it can make sense for us,’” Feldman said. “You’re starting to see people who say, ‘We need jobs, long term jobs, construction jobs.’”

Matthew Frank, executive vice president of development and design for Uniondale-based RexCorp Realty, said the dynamic has become less adversarial.

“Municipalities are realizing they have to be proactive in terms of getting good projects reviewed and approved in a timely manner,” Frank said. “The economic well-being of a lot of these communities is supported by larger redevelopment projects.”

Even if the economy is helping developers get a warmer welcome, that’s only part of the picture. The process itself is changing as developers start going to the community before presenting plans.

Instead of fighting costly legal battles to push through projects, developers are approaching communities earlier and transforming projects even before making formal proposals.

“We go to the civics first when we’re looking to do something,” Farrell said. “We sit down with them and explain it, maybe make some changes, before we present it to the town. We found that’s been successful instead of civic associations reading about it. They have no idea what’s going on and become defensive.”

Farrell has a file of letters from community groups such as the South Yaphank Civic Association, which supported the construction of a truck-to-train warehouse.

Keith P. Brown, a partner at Brown & Altman, a commercial real estate law firm in Garden City, said municipalities, such as the towns of Hempstead and Brookhaven, have begun requiring applicants to present to civic groups before conducting public zoning hearings.

“They want the concerns of the community to be raised earlier in the process,” Brown said.

He said his firm helped developers hold community workshops at libraries even for small projects.

David N. Altman, another partner at the firm, said the goal of earlier community involvement is to “defuse” controversy. The drawback, he said, is that opposition can materialize quickly for otherwise noncontroversial proposals.

“Towns tend to run with the popular sentiment,” Altman said. “An application with a great deal of merit sometimes doesn’t go forward as a result of adverse community reaction.”

The Lighthouse Project, although it’s still seeking approvals, could prove to be a tale of two processes and two projects.

The ambitious project as initially presented to the public included a 600-foot, 60-story tower. Many people first found out about it through a front page Newsday story.

Only after the project was splashed across the papers did developers begin to receive voluminous input. But by then, a huge opposition formed over the height of the structure. RexCorp then signed on as a partner as the project transformed, as did approach.

The project has since been presented at 160 public meetings and been revised considerably.

“We’ve gone out to all the neighboring communities,” said Michael Picker, a spokesman for the Lighthouse Development Group. “And we’ve made changes in our design. We listened to people.”

Lighthouse scaled down the biggest structure to 450 feet. It still plans to rebuild the Nassau Coliseum which was built in 1972. Plans also include a convention center, a hotel and much more, along with spending at least $55 million on traffic mitigation measures.

“We created residential areas. We changed how we laid out the site,” said Picker of the project which has been moving forward. “We adjusted it to fit more into the neighboring communities.”

While taxation and employment may help sell large projects, that doesn’t mean all communities have the same attitude towards development. “It depends on the municipality,” Feldman said. “Many municipalities have woken up to the fact that we are in an economic crisis and are being more receptive to new ideas in real estate.”

Although flexibility may be as common as fights, developers aren’t getting carte blanche. Mixed-use projects are being proposed across Long Island, historically zoned for separate categories such as residential, office and industrial. And it can take years to work through compromises.